Okay, I have dedicated my career to neonatal ICU nursing. Before I got into the NICU, I worked on a pediatric surgery/trauma floor and a pediatric cardiac ICU stepdown unit. I feed my kids lots of fresh veggies and fruit, pastas, many beans/rice dishes, whole grains like quinoa, etc. I buy everything organic. My kids are healthy and thriving and their pediatrician (not vegan) is very pleased with their health. I am a child abuser? That's funny!

Goody for you...

Seriously, you got an article in the paper about your family and eating lifestyle. Then you decide to come on here and kick and scream.

I think your 15 minutes are up...buh bye.

Ten bucks says your kid will grow to hate you for forcing this vegan diet.

CharlesDarwin wrote:And I have no idea how a discussion about morality has anything to do with religion or the "pro-lifers". It just seems like an off-topic thing, and just one of the many ways that, IMHO, many that have a latent guilt about their diet resulting in suffering throw out there to try to assuage their own guilt.

Ah, yes. Accuse those who you insult of feeling guilty. Another move right out of the pro life playbook

diana.glaizer wrote:Chris, I would like to point out that the main point of your comment is that you are not willing to give up meant because "its too tasty." And by saying that not all meat is brought to the store in a cruel fashion is just your rationalizing to yourself why it is ok for you to eat a being who was murdered.

While I am sympathetic to vegan/vegetarian ideals and eat vegetarian several days a week, I am not a vegetarian/vegan because I am a food connoisseur and love meat too much. I am admitting I’m selfish. And I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that. Everyone does it to some extent.

You do not need your fancy smart phone that uses minerals extracted by exploited people in the Congo. But you still use it, don’t you? And why is that? Because you justify it, either consciously or subconsciously, by the pleasure it brings you. You say to yourself, “yeah, that’s bad, but I care about my phone more than I care about some people way off in Africa.”

You bought those clothes made in China despite their human rights record. Although you know this quite clearly, you either justified your purchase or conveniently “forgot” about the abuses, because you really wanted that cute blouse.

You drive your Subaru despite the fact that you could have gotten by with a Prius. Yet you justify this additional use of fossil fuels to yourself as well as being “worth it.”

I could go on and on. Please don’t purport that you harm no one and nothing by the things you do and consume. That’s just ridiculous and impossible. So please spare us the holier-than-thou when you’re making the same calls I am.

What's with all the antagonism? As a vegan, I ignore articles about eating meat because they are irrelevant to me. I don't understand how articles about being vegan are relevant to someone intent on eating meat. Why come on here and bash veganism? What benefit could doing so possibly provide? It just seems mean and intolerant. Really. Don't want to be vegan? Then don't be.

diana.glaizer wrote:While I am sympathetic to vegan/vegetarian ideals and eat vegetarian several days a week, I am not a vegetarian/vegan because I am a food connoisseur and love meat too much. I am admitting I’m selfish. And I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that. Everyone does it to some extent.

You do not need your fancy smart phone that uses minerals extracted by exploited people in the Congo. But you still use it, don’t you? And why is that? Because you justify it, either consciously or subconsciously, by the pleasure it brings you. You say to yourself, “yeah, that’s bad, but I care about my phone more than I care about some people way off in Africa.”

You bought those clothes made in China despite their human rights record. Although you know this quite clearly, you either justified your purchase or conveniently “forgot” about the abuses, because you really wanted that cute blouse.

You drive your Subaru despite the fact that you could have gotten by with a Prius. Yet you justify this additional use of fossil fuels to yourself as well as being “worth it.”

I could go on and on. Please don’t purport that you harm no one and nothing by the things you do and consume. That’s just ridiculous and impossible. So please spare us the holier-than-thou when you’re making the same calls I am.

You make a good point. I like how Johnathan Safran Foer (vegetarian author) put it when he said he would rather be a hypocrite some of the time as opposed to all of the time. The same could be said of someone who eschews smart phones or palm oil or Nike, or (insert thousands of causes here)... But you are totally right, no one is innocent. As a vegan myself, I find the holier then thou stuff pulled by some of my fellow plant eaters very annoying and embarrassing.

Okay, I have dedicated my career to neonatal ICU nursing. Before I got into the NICU, I worked on a pediatric surgery/trauma floor and a pediatric cardiac ICU stepdown unit. I feed my kids lots of fresh veggies and fruit, pastas, many beans/rice dishes, whole grains like quinoa, etc. I buy everything organic. My kids are healthy and thriving and their pediatrician (not vegan) is very pleased with their health. I am a child abuser? That's funny!

Goody for you...

Seriously, you got an article in the paper about your family and eating lifestyle. Then you decide to come on here and kick and scream.

I think your 15 minutes are up...buh bye.

Ten bucks says your kid will grow to hate you for forcing this vegan diet.

I really don't understand the hostility some people have toward this woman and people like her. Why are you so angry at her? Why do you feel a need to belittle other people, especially someone you don't even know?

From what I could tell, she is a nice family-oriented wife and mother who leads an active, healthy lifestyle, loves her kids and has a stressful job. How is that so different that it is threatening to you?

Let me just say that there are a lot of intolerant folks on this thread on both sides. Vegan diets are just not irresponsible and unhealthy, provided you eat right (giving your child nothing but peanut butter sandwiches is extremely harmful, just as is giving them only processed foods). So let’s lay off attacking them and the choices they make, fellow omnivores. Conversely, it’s obvious from this thread that some (not all!) vegetarians/vegans are judgmental, preachy, and condescending.

You make your lifestyle choices, others make theirs. Quite a few people need a lesson in minding their own business. Tolerance is in short supply these days.

Finally, I’d like to talk about “compassion” just a bit. Some vegans are big on attacking omnivores for having no compassion. I read an article on Huffington Post (yes, I’m a good little liberal) about a hunter dying when a buck gored his femoral artery. Let me tell you, the LAST thing I saw on that thread was compassion. The vast majority of the comments cheered the death. Another article a week later discussed an elephant getting loose in India and killing a man minding his stall on a street corner. Did I see any compassion for him, his wife, or children? Ha! I saw people saying “he deserved it,” and “good job elephant.”

So please, when you talk about compassion, please have some for ALL animals, including human beings. There's a growing ethos in America and other countries that hates all humans and loves all other animals. Let's not be hypocrites.

UCDenver wrote:The overwhelming majority of commenters on this thread are women, who are traditionally known for being trend followers, especially young women in the early twenties to mid 30s. This is an exact correlation to the gender and age demographic of commenters in this forum.

This advocation of the vegan lifestyle by these young 'humanitarian' females is no different than the hoopla surrounding the new 'attachment parenting' fad. That's what they all are, fads. Kind of sad that you live your life based on passing fads.

Humans have been omnivores, just like most primates, bears, and many other mammals, for many hundreds of thousands of years. That long-standing existence doesn't simply change over a course of a couple decades, let alone a few centuries. If you knew anything about anthropology. evolutionary biology, or geology, you would know that.

Boom shakka lakka yea!

OWNED.

I'm aware of what your saying, but it's not heathly to eat processed foods even for a bear. It's hard to find good food that is not full of junk. Being a vegan can make easier to eat healthy.

Cwillyrun1 wrote:No thanks to vegan only diets. Not all meat is delivered to market through a "cruel" fashion so to generalize that way makes the argument weak. Sorry, but humans aren't naturally plant eaters only, and tofu has it's drawbacks. I used to know one vegan that wouldn't even eat bananas because they had too much sugar in them.... that's crazy. And the Dairy dietitian is right, dairy is the best... and most natural way, to get many of those vitamins and minerals. Same with meat. Women who take calcium pills sometimes don't realize they need vitamin D as well for the calcium to process itself and be effective. If there are people who choose to go all veggie, I have no problem with it, but for me and my family, meat will be a part of the weekly menu. No matter how tofu is worked up, it will never be as tasty as meat. Funny....... but my sister had a vegan friend that made tofu dogs and even my dog turned it's nose up at it when one was tossed to him, and my dog eats most everything.

Your right tofu hotdogs are yucky because ther'e proccessed. Eat fresh, and you can get enough d from the sun in about 15 min a week and calcium from spinach. i don't think there is a subsitute for meet, I just don't eat it anymore and feel better for it. I don't need extra hormones from milk and meat.

I am really getting tire of all these people who talk about animal cruelty because they read it in a book. These people really don't have a clue what the vast majority of livestock producers do for their animals. I grew up on a dairy farm. Everything revolved around the cows. They were fed and taken care of before we ate. At the time we were one of the larger dairies in the area. All the cows had a name and we knew each and everyone by their name, their habits and manor when milking them.

People who think that animal cruelty is theis the rule rather than the exception just don't get it. If you are cruel to the animals, they will not perform to their maximum and if they don't perform to their maximum you don't make money.

You can be a vegan or vegatarian, that's your choice. Don't try to justify it with claims that animal cruelty is widespread because it isn't. I know people who are vegans or vegatatarians and they always make comments about our lifestyles when we don't make comments about theirs.

JPS wrote:I am really getting tire of all these people who talk about animal cruelty because they read it in a book. These people really don't have a clue what the vast majority of livestock producers do for their animals. I grew up on a dairy farm. Everything revolved around the cows. They were fed and taken care of before we ate. At the time we were one of the larger dairies in the area. All the cows had a name and we knew each and everyone by their name, their habits and manor when milking them.

People who think that animal cruelty is theis the rule rather than the exception just don't get it. If you are cruel to the animals, they will not perform to their maximum and if they don't perform to their maximum you don't make money.

You can be a vegan or vegatarian, that's your choice. Don't try to justify it with claims that animal cruelty is widespread because it isn't. I know people who are vegans or vegatatarians and they always make comments about our lifestyles when we don't make comments about theirs.

I don't hear you saying anything about the male calves born every year to cows. Please tell us about the idyllic lives that they lead. Go into detail about how long the cows get to be with their calves. Tell us about the crate sizes that the male calves get to live in for a few months on a liquid diet which gives them perpetual diarrhea. Tell us about the life expectancy of the average milk cow. How long can she hold out producing 100 gallons of milk every day? Does she get to live 5 years before her weight breaks her calcium-leached bones? You are right. People just do not know how you treat your animals.

Okay, I have dedicated my career to neonatal ICU nursing. Before I got into the NICU, I worked on a pediatric surgery/trauma floor and a pediatric cardiac ICU stepdown unit. I feed my kids lots of fresh veggies and fruit, pastas, many beans/rice dishes, whole grains like quinoa, etc. I buy everything organic. My kids are healthy and thriving and their pediatrician (not vegan) is very pleased with their health. I am a child abuser? That's funny!

Goody for you...

Seriously, you got an article in the paper about your family and eating lifestyle. Then you decide to come on here and kick and scream.

I think your 15 minutes are up...buh bye.

Ten bucks says your kid will grow to hate you for forcing this vegan diet.

I really don't understand the hostility some people have toward this woman and people like her. Why are you so angry at her? Why do you feel a need to belittle other people, especially someone you don't even know?

From what I could tell, she is a nice family-oriented wife and mother who leads an active, healthy lifestyle, loves her kids and has a stressful job. How is that so different that it is threatening to you?

Ok, let me say this though. These vegan kids my be in perfect health.

What about mental health, or are all of you experts on that subject too?

How's it going to feel when lil Vegan can't even eat his friends birthday cake, or maybe the others won't invite lil Vegan in the first place.

When I was a kid, I hated meat. Always have. Was it child abuse that I had to eat meat? Not everyone subscribes to the meat-is-tasty-I-miss-it-so-much theory. I don't like the products that are meant to taste like meat, and I don't miss it. I can appreciate the smell of a summer barbecue, but have zero desire to partake.

Leave it up to each parent to decide what's right for their family.

“You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car.”

-Harvey Diamond

I find it simply preposterous when the ignorant claim that someone having their children eat a veg*n diet is "child abuse".

Every single parent "forces" their kids to eat a given diet...it's just a matter of what that diet will be. Will it be the SAD diet? Will it be a diet that takes no ethical considerations?There is no reason to make a statement - but like I said earlier, in almost any given conversation about veg*n diets - IRL or online - it seems it attracts incredibly ignorant comments.

For some reason, nothing seems to inflame the passions of certain people I know IRL than what my family and I eat. I always seem to hear about how strident veg*ns are, and I *have* met ONE strident veg*n in my lifetime - but they were that way about everything.

As a general rule though, it seems that the omnivores are the ones that want to tell me what to eat and get angry, etc., rather than it flowing the other way. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I think these hateful attitudes from omnivores ultimately stems from latent guilt.

UCDenver wrote:The overwhelming majority of commenters on this thread are women, who are traditionally known for being trend followers, especially young women in the early twenties to mid 30s. This is an exact correlation to the gender and age demographic of commenters in this forum.

This advocation of the vegan lifestyle by these young 'humanitarian' females is no different than the hoopla surrounding the new 'attachment parenting' fad. That's what they all are, fads. Kind of sad that you live your life based on passing fads.

Humans have been omnivores, just like most primates, bears, and many other mammals, for many hundreds of thousands of years. That long-standing existence doesn't simply change over a course of a couple decades, let alone a few centuries. If you knew anything about anthropology. evolutionary biology, or geology, you would know that.

Boom shakka lakka yea!

OWNED.

Wow, pretty sexist statement. And the last 2 lines pretty much says it all about this person.

Yeah, I wouldn't bother feeding the trolls. I've met this sort online as well as IRL....they just seek to get a rise out of veg*ns by interjecting their ignorance and hatefulness and really add nothing to the discussion.

JPS wrote:I am really getting tire of all these people who talk about animal cruelty because they read it in a book. These people really don't have a clue what the vast majority of livestock producers do for their animals. I grew up on a dairy farm. Everything revolved around the cows. They were fed and taken care of before we ate. At the time we were one of the larger dairies in the area. All the cows had a name and we knew each and everyone by their name, their habits and manor when milking them.

People who think that animal cruelty is theis the rule rather than the exception just don't get it. If you are cruel to the animals, they will not perform to their maximum and if they don't perform to their maximum you don't make money.

You can be a vegan or vegatarian, that's your choice. Don't try to justify it with claims that animal cruelty is widespread because it isn't. I know people who are vegans or vegatatarians and they always make comments about our lifestyles when we don't make comments about theirs.

I don't hear you saying anything about the male calves born every year to cows. Please tell us about the idyllic lives that they lead. Go into detail about how long the cows get to be with their calves. Tell us about the crate sizes that the male calves get to live in for a few months on a liquid diet which gives them perpetual diarrhea. Tell us about the life expectancy of the average milk cow. How long can she hold out producing 100 gallons of milk every day? Does she get to live 5 years before her weight breaks her calcium-leached bones? You are right. People just do not know how you treat your animals.

Your response shows your lack of knowledge with agriculture old enough. Agriculture is a business not some fantasy world. Do you work for a business?? I'm sure I can find issues with your job.

One, you talk about how long the calf is with the mother. Typically 12 to 24 hours. Why so short? It is a business and milk is the product. The calves are generally well taken care of.

You talk about the male calves and crates. Well that is veal and is a business that is dying out. Also, you unfortunately haven't kept up on the regulations. Those crates that everyone envisions with veal are long gone. Probably more than 20 years ago. you talk about the diarrhea they have. Leave a calf on a dairy cow and they will have diarrhea all the time as well. Why? They produce too much milk.

Most of the male calves are raised as beef animals. Look in the feedlots and you will see many holsteins in the yards or can you really tell what is what when you pass a feedlot.

You talk about a cow producing 100 gallons of milk per day. Really?? This shows your lack of knowledge to this issue. So you are telling me that a 1200 to 1400 lb cow can produce 800 lbs of milk. Look it up because you really don't know.

Calcium depleted bones??? This really shows your lack of knowledge. Never seen it and have never heard of it in a dairy. Why??? They feed a completely balanced ration. Cows will not produce milk if they are trying to take the calcium from their bones.

What about you and your life. How much do you impose on other people? More than you know. Do you drive a car? Well you are polluting the air I breath. Do you pee and poop and flush it down the toliet into the sewer??? Well you are polluting the water people downstream depend upon. How about electricity? Again you are polluting the air I breath.

You wish to push your elitist views on everyone. Well, if you wish that be prepared for other people to push their views on you even if you don't like it. This is the United States of America, not the old communist USSR. If you don't like things such as meat, vote with your pocket book and don't buy it. If enough people feel that way then agriculture will change to meet those needs.

Hi folks! So, I got up this morning and had a nice breakfast with the kids. Then we rode bikes to Noah's school. After that, I took Kaya to school and went back to Noah's school to help out in his classroom. Kaya and I then had a nice lunch and worked in the garden all afternoon. I did spend about a half hour on the computer, kinda boring, I know. Then we rode to school to get Noah and went to the playground and swim practice. After that, came home and had a great dinner with some great friends who just left. Kids are in bed and now I will enjoy some time with my wonderful husband. What a fantastic day! I love my days off! Have a good night all! Get out there and enjoy life!

BABaracus wrote:Hi folks! So, I got up this morning and had a nice breakfast with the kids. Then we rode bikes to Noah's school. After that, I took Kaya to school and went back to Noah's school to help out in his classroom. Kaya and I then had a nice lunch and worked in the garden all afternoon. I did spend about a half hour on the computer, kinda boring, I know. Then we rode to school to get Noah and went to the playground and swim practice. After that, came home and had a great dinner with some great friends who just left. Kids are in bed and now I will enjoy some time with my wonderful husband. What a fantastic day! I love my days off! Have a good night all! Get out there and enjoy life!

Ya know, there are places you can post about your daily life. Like Twitter, or a blog. I don't think this has a whole lot of interest to the people who comment on articles here..

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But underthe name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialistprogram, until one day America will be a Socialist nation.

BABaracus wrote:Hi folks! So, I got up this morning and had a nice breakfast with the kids. Then we rode bikes to Noah's school. After that, I took Kaya to school and went back to Noah's school to help out in his classroom. Kaya and I then had a nice lunch and worked in the garden all afternoon. I did spend about a half hour on the computer, kinda boring, I know. Then we rode to school to get Noah and went to the playground and swim practice. After that, came home and had a great dinner with some great friends who just left. Kids are in bed and now I will enjoy some time with my wonderful husband. What a fantastic day! I love my days off! Have a good night all! Get out there and enjoy life!

Ya know, there are places you can post about your daily life. Like Twitter, or a blog. I don't think this has a whole lot of interest to the people who comment on articles here..

Actually sealbee this was necessary - it showed the trolls that have posted that some people can get on with living, and not let others bring them down, or continue to draw them in. Looking at how many times some people post - kinda proves they don't have a life.

BABaracus wrote:Hi folks! So, I got up this morning and had a nice breakfast with the kids. Then we rode bikes to Noah's school. After that, I took Kaya to school and went back to Noah's school to help out in his classroom. Kaya and I then had a nice lunch and worked in the garden all afternoon. I did spend about a half hour on the computer, kinda boring, I know. Then we rode to school to get Noah and went to the playground and swim practice. After that, came home and had a great dinner with some great friends who just left. Kids are in bed and now I will enjoy some time with my wonderful husband. What a fantastic day! I love my days off! Have a good night all! Get out there and enjoy life!

Ya know, there are places you can post about your daily life. Like Twitter, or a blog. I don't think this has a whole lot of interest to the people who comment on articles here..

She is the mother of the family in the vegan article and has been commenting on the article for over a day.